Chapter 4
Qingyun marked the locations of the wells on the map and then said, "Sir, you can just have someone dig them, or should we go now?"
Song Junwu stood in front of her, not answering, but instead looked up at Qingyun, hesitating for a moment before saying, "You...would you like to take a bath first?"
Hearing this, Qingyun stared at the other person, her face gradually flushing red. She sniffed the air and found that there was a faint scent wafting through it, and it was coming from herself. She realized that she had been bothering him. She asked cautiously, with doubt, "Is...it...okay?"
When she came out of the foggy room
Qingyun felt much better after washing up. Unexpectedly, she had gotten a good deal by accident. Since her clothes had gone bad, Song Junwu asked others to find her a new set, which was still linen.
Upon returning to the main hall, they found Song Chaoyun sitting inside, chatting and laughing with Song Junwu. When she saw the newcomer, she raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting Qingyun to be there. Song Chaoyun was dressed in red with elaborate makeup, but her appearance was quite ordinary. Even with jewels, she was not considered a woman of any beauty.
Qingyun knelt down again in a standard kneeling posture and kowtowed to the two. When Song Chaoyun heard that she had encountered jackals, she was somewhat surprised and mocked her for being so lucky. Song Chaoyun was probably there to discuss the implementation of those plans with Song Junwu, while Qingyun was there to say hello to Song Junwu and then prepare to go back to dig a well.
Seeing that she was about to leave, Song Chaoyun said, "Wait!" She called out to her, "I will go with you. I want to see if you really have any skills."
A group of people carried a small sedan chair through the vast desert. The red silk gauze fluttered in the wind, lifting the girl's veil and revealing her face hidden under the brim. Qingyun followed beside Song Chaoyun's sedan chair, listening to her muttering.
It's nothing more than complaining about the weather.
Song Junwu had military duties to attend to, so he sent a few laborers to dig a well and handed over his trusted men to protect Song Chaoyun. Princess Song Chaoyun had a rare moment of kindness and only allowed Qingyun to stand aside and watch, instead of making her kneel. A pavilion was set up nearby, and Song Chaoyun sat inside, eating ice cream and watching.
The sun was blazing, and as time passed, the heat rose straight to people's foreheads.
Her body, which had just been bathed, was soaked again, and her fragrant neck was covered in sweat. The laborers had already dug several meters deep, but they still hadn't found the spring. "Are you trying to trick me?" The previous comfort and ease turned into impatience. Song Chaoyun got up and waved to the maid beside her. The maid put away her fan and waited to the side.
Qingyun wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and cupped his hands, saying, "My lord, please wait here."
A moment later, a joyous shout came from the bottom of the cave, soaring into the sky: "Water! There really is water! Your Highness!" The lead laborer, carrying a pile of wet, sticky yellow mud, hurriedly climbed up and showed it to the little eunuch beside Song Chaoyun.
Upon hearing this, Song Chaoyun jumped up from her chair, pushed aside the eunuch who was about to bring over the yellow mud, and went to check on the laborers herself. Her eyes widened slightly, full of shock. She quickly touched it with her slender fingers, and only after the real touch melted between her fingers did she look at Qingyun.
The area under his eyes was dark and unclear.
Turning back, she almost stumbled as she quickly peered into the cave. Her fine clothes were stained with grime, but she paid no heed. Gazing at the spring gushing forth clear water, she shouted with a booming voice, "Good! There will be a reward! There will be a reward for everyone!"
Song Chaoyun's joy was evident, and he hurriedly said, "Quickly tell the other craftsmen to finish building this well! And send more people to dig the others!"
Qingyun smiled, pleased to see their reactions; after all, she had finally gotten her revenge!
Song Chaoyun turned his attention to Qingyun beside him, cleared his throat a few times, and his face returned to its arrogant expression. "Seeing that you do have some real skills, how about you finish the rest?"
Qingyun: [Stop pretending, you're clearly overjoyed...]
Qingyun bowed and returned to her post, then remembered something. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "Since Your Highness just promised that everyone would be rewarded, may I ask Your Highness for a reward?"
Song Chaoyun straightened her clothes and sat up again. She was surprised that Qingyun would ask her for a reward. She took the tea handed to her by the eunuch, took a sip, and then asked her what reward she wanted.
Qingyun knelt down quickly, kowtowed once, and then replied, "I can also cure the woman's fever yesterday, but she cannot work or make a living for the next few days. I only ask Your Highness to give her some food and money, not much, just enough to help her survive for the next three to five days."
"I thought it was something big. You've calmed down now," Song Chaoyun waved her hand. "It's just this little bit. Here you go." As she was speaking, her eyes suddenly sharpened, and she said in a threatening tone, "But you still can't slack off. You'll have to put in double the effort if she can't do it."
Qingyun: "That's natural."
The place was dilapidated and drafty, not a friendly place for a patient, especially since the blankets and fabric covering him were no longer warm enough. Giving some money to repair and renovate it was a small way for her to help this poor man.
System: [Why would the host help someone whose name they don't even know?]
Qingyun replied in her mind, "[She shouldn't have spent the rest of her life lying on a sickbed in the first place. Besides, these were all things she could do. You can't expect a return on everything, you know?]" After she finished speaking, she felt that the artificial intelligence was not understanding, so she simply stopped trying to reason with it.
Considering that her main task was still afforestation, and that water purifiers were the priority in order to solve the city's fever problem, she had to plant 500 saplings before she could open the shop to buy them. After thinking it over, she decided that the main task was more important.
Although Song Chaoyun asked her to lead people to dig the remaining wells, wouldn't it be enough to just mark the locations on a map? Thinking about it, she asked someone for a map but found that she couldn't understand it at all. So, under the scorching sun, she led the leader around the marked points before returning to report to Song Chaoyun about the seedlings.
Song Chaoyun didn't stop her and let Qingyun go. However, she returned late at night and realized that the person had given up because she couldn't find the well. The man who had argued with her that day stepped in front of her, his expression amused. "Is this surrendering on your own? You couldn't stand the heat and came back?"
He scratched his head, quite pleased with himself, pointed at Qingyun, and then turned to the other workers, shouting, "Still want to bet with me? I knew women couldn't be trusted!"
"Heh," Qingyun sneered, saying nothing, just quietly watching the man.
The man got more and more excited as he spoke, "Luckily I didn't bet with you, otherwise I would have been a laughingstock!" He turned around and said loudly, "You came back at the last minute, with your tail between your legs, didn't you?"
"Go away! Stop bragging!"
"I never believed this girl from the beginning. Only those women believed her words. In the end, they are just short-sighted and have long hair. They are not to be trusted."
A crowd gathered around, jeering and mocking. The scarred woman from before also squeezed out of the crowd, watching Qingyun being surrounded and ridiculed by several people. However, the woman remained unmoved, standing there silently with her eyes unblinking. After they had all finished talking, she sat down with her back straight and asked, "Who brought a water bottle?"
The atmosphere suddenly fell silent, as if no one had expected her to ask this so late. A moment later, a leather water bottle appeared before Qingyun. Following the arm, Qingyun raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips, and took the bottle from the scarred woman, gulping down several large mouthfuls.
He then swaggered and wiped the water from his lips. "Have you finished talking?"
Seeing that there was no sound, Qingyun stood up and poked the man's chest with all her might without any politeness, saying fiercely, "You have no vision or magnanimity. A petty person can't accomplish great things." She then said to the people around her, "I'm afraid the foreman will select a few people to dig wells with the soldiers later."
She smiled brightly, turned to look at the man, and said, "Get ready, man? From now on, you'll be my slave."
Qingyun had planned to return before lunchtime, but something happened, and now she was so hungry she could eat someone. After saying this, she returned the water bottle to the scarred woman and casually said, "Thank you, but I'm going to eat now."
After a long pause, someone in the crowd finally grasped the meaning from Qingyun's words and was instantly shocked. "Wh...what? Could it be that they really found the well?"
"No way?"
A commotion erupted instantly. The man's face flushed red, clearly not expecting this. His first reaction was to grab Qingyun and question her accusations of lying, muttering that it was impossible. Qingyun abruptly shoved him away, and the strong man didn't even have time to react, his hand frozen in mid-air. "You really found the well?"
Before Qingyun could say anything, a large bird slowly flew over, its cry piercing the air, and landed steadily on the scarred woman's arm. A letter was tied to her ankle. After reading its contents, the scarred woman turned her gaze to Qingyun, her face filled with astonishment. She released the eagle before straightening her expression and saying…
"The master said that fifty percent of the young and strong men should come with me and dig out more than ten wells by 5 pm today." She lowered her head, clutching the paper, her voice trembling, with a joy that was imperceptible to others. "Miss Qingyun, we have indeed found them."
A murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd. Qingyun thought to himself, "This is what a feel-good drama is like! What a slap in the face!" [System, you're actually a feel-good novel system, aren't you?]
system:【……】
Only the man remained rooted to the spot, not yet recovered. The scarred woman grabbed Qingyun, who was about to leave again, and asked, "Is there no food left for you now?" As she spoke, she quickly took out a dark and hard flatbread from her cloth bag and offered it to Qingyun, clearly indicating that it was for him to eat.
"One pancake for each person, aren't you going to eat it?" Qingyun pushed it back, besides, she couldn't eat such a hard pancake. Seeing that the scarred woman was serious, she said, "I have accomplished a great feat, surely I have food to eat? Don't worry, His Highness has sent a message to the supervisor to leave some food for me."
After saying that, he quickly stuffed it back in, and before the scarred woman could react, he ran several hundred meters away again, just like when he ran away before. He thought he would deliver the food to the girl and then come back to complete his mission! There were still many things to deal with!
Qingyun thought to himself, "This scarred woman seems like a nice person. She's not bad. I can make her a friend. She's also in charge. It would be beneficial to win her over to carry out grassroots tasks."
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